AT&T Launching New 'Mobile Share Value Plans' with Monthly Discount, 18-Month 'AT&T Next' Option

AT&T has announced that it will be introducing new “Mobile Share Value Plans“ on December 8, which includes an option for no annual contracts that brings a $15 monthly discount to shared data customers that meet one of four requirements. The requirements include getting a smartphone for no down payment with the "AT&T Next" early upgrade program, bringing a separate off-contract device, purchasing a smartphone at full retail price, or switching to a new plan after a phone is no longer under contract.

With the ‘No Annual Service Contract’ options, smartphone customers can save $15 a month on Mobile Share Value plans. 2 Customers can receive these monthly savings when they: Get a new smartphone for no down payment with AT&T Next; bring their own smartphone; purchase a smartphone at full retail price; or when their smartphone is no longer under contract and they switch to the new plans. All Mobile Share Value plan customers will benefit from shared data plus unlimited talk and text on their phones. Consumers will have the ability to connect up to 10 devices, including tablets and other wireless devices, while business customers will be able to connect up to 10, 15, 20 or 25 devices, depending on the plan.

The carrier also announced that it is adding a new option for its "AT&T Next" early upgrade program on December 8, which allows a customer to get a new phone after 18 monthly payments and spreads total payments over the course of 26 months. This option joins the existing option of getting a new phone after 12 monthly payments and spreading payments over 20 months, and comes after the company cut pricing on the program in August after launching it in July.

In October, AT&T ended traditional voice and data plans for new customers in favor of offering Mobile Share plans, which were first introduced during the summer of 2012. AT&T's Mobile Share plans offer unlimited talk and text while providing a pool of data that can be used across multiple devices, and include a monthly data cost and a per-device charge that ranges from $10 to $50 based on the type of device and the selected data plan. Data is priced between $20 and $500, for between 300MB and 50GB of usage.